Death Note Royale
by caveat lector
Summary: AU: Death Note – Battle Royale style. A class is put on an island for three days. The rules? Only one survives. Violence, insanity, language, and sexuality. Also for those who haven't read Battle Royale. No OCs or B.R.-characters. Age-modifications.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I got this idea a while ago when I read the Battle Royale manga. But I refrained from writing it because someone else had gotten the same idea and had even put the bunny here on the site. Then _Mikanis_ adopted it and I was afraid that if I wrote this, one of them (or both) might think I was stealing. But I am not! I would like to point out that I got the idea before I knew that someone else had thought the same thing. However, if either of them read this and feel offended in any way, tell me and I'll take it down. The reason I decided to write it anyway was that I noticed some major differences in the plots. Mine is basically Battle Royale's plot with the characters from Death Note :D (I don't even know how I want to end it yet...)

I messed everyone's age up in this, I think; I have only used characters mentioned in Death Note, and since there aren't enough 17-year-olds (or someone around that age), I had to take other characters and play pretend. Just be happy that I am not adding my own characters... so unless it says otherwise, you can assume that they're teenagers. Yes, even L.

So... here goes. Death Note – Battle Royale style.

**Disclaimer: **I own neither Death Note nor Battle Royale.

**Beta'd by the wonderful XxDonMelloxX.**

**-**

**Death Note Royale**

It was a class trip that no one had been looking forward to. They all knew that they were probably going to have a great time, but that was what made it bittersweet... because even though they knew that they were going to have fun, they knew that it would be over much too soon and then there would no longer be a class to have fun with.

No, graduating wasn't good at all.

Then again, a bus full of children-but-almost-adults made anything look like a child's game, even having to part forever.

There was noise everywhere - from the backseat where girls were chattering away about recent events in their lives, to the front where even the class's most quiet individuals were engaged in various conversations with each other and everyone else around them. Yes, it was obvious that everyone knew that this was their last chance of trying to socialize. Of course, they had all agreed to keep in touch with each other, but somehow they all knew that it wouldn't last.

The poor teacher who, like the equally poor students, had no idea what was about to happen to them was about to go insane from the constant noise.

Soichiro Yagami was the name of their misfortunate teacher. He was a former policeman, father of two of the children in the class (Light and Sayu), and generally the kind of person you wouldn't want to mess with. He sighed, turning around towards the cause of his bad mood - the teenagers.

"Quiet down," he said, not feeling the need to yell at them. He hoped that they would do as he told them to for once. When nothing happened, he sighed once more and decided that it didn't matter; he knew that he was going to miss them later, even though they were bugging him right now. He leaned back against his seat and forced himself to relax.

Behind him was his son, Light, currently discussing The Program with some of his classmates. "There's no way we'll be chosen," he said. "They said that they'd already found this season's class, you know that."

L, who sat next to him, didn't look convinced. "Light, you should know that there is always a chance. You know what happened to the last class they chose. No one had a clue until they were there."

"Stop being paranoid, L," said Matt from behind them without taking his goggled eyes off the electronic game in his hands. "The season starts tonight, right? We'd be there by now... you know, so they'd have time to explain the rules to us and stuff… son of a bitch."

L assumed that the last part was meant for the game.

Next to Matt, Near decided that it was a good time to voice his opinion, and informed Matt that he agreed with L. Matt didn't answer, just shrugged and started complaining about the long ride and how he could really use a cigarette right about now.

"Smoking is a nasty habit," said an annoyed Light, "you should quit."

Matt told him to shut up.

At the back of the bus, the girls were talking about The Program as well. Misa Amane was telling everyone about how upsetting it was for her to not be able to watch it because of the trip. Kiyomi Takada was rolling her eyes at this.

"I don't understand how you can make yourself watch it," she said.

"I just think it's exiting!"

"But it's real," said Sayu. "It's happening to real people. It could really easily happen to us as well, and how would you feel if random strangers were watching you get killed?"

"Oh please, it's probably just acting," interrupted Misora 'Massacre'.

Sayu seemed insulted at this, and so did Kiyomi. They started discussing whether or not it was real, and Misa's focus left the conversation to concentrate on watching Light. Misa was known as the 'Ice Queen', the one who could get any guy she wanted. Sadly, the only one she really cared about seemed to be completely uninterested in her. It drove her insane, and she was often times called obsessed. She didn't care. She wanted Light, and she saw the class-trip as her golden chance to get what she wanted.

Because Misa always got who and what she wanted.

Beyond Birthday had strategically placed himself next to Mello. This way, they were both surrounded by Mello's gang and Beyond could still see everything L did and hear every word he said. Okay, it wasn't actually Mello's gang. Rod Ross was their 'leader', but everyone knew that Mello was the brains behind it all... it was just a matter of the old Alpha Male-concept. Beyond felt strangely at home in the middle of all the thugs, all following the orders of a small and feminine boy with an inexplicable love for chocolate. Quite funny, Beyond thought, and let out a loud laugh which earned him several strange looks from the people surrounding him.

The gang, too, was talking about The Program.

"They make it look a lot harder than it really is." Jack was bragging again. He'd felt the need to prove himself to the rest of the gang since what seemed like forever, because he was apparently the only one who could see the weirdness in taking orders from a sissy like Mello. Sadly, he wasn't the most respected member of the gang, and his opinion often went unheard. "I mean, if you get a good weapon, then what's the big deal? I can see the problem if you get a piece of shit, but still-"

"Well," said Rod beside him, "maybe you've forgotten, but they're asking you to kill off your damn classmates. In case you don't know, most people would have to have no fucking conscience to do something like that. Moron."

Jack said nothing and looked at the landscapes flying past the windows while the rest of the gang started discussing the moral problems.

"Call me a pussy, but I don't think I could do it," said José, looking somewhat thoughtful.

Mello turned his head just enough to look at José. "Really?"

"What, and you'd just kill us all without a second thought or somethin'?"

"Hmm…" Mello tilted his head a little and stared at the bar of chocolate bar he was holding. He looked back at José. "No, I don't think I could kill Matt. Or Beyond…"

Rod laughed at this. "What about us, man?" he asked.

"Well… maybe. If you got in my way. Oh, come on. As if you guys wouldn't kill me if it got you outta there alive."

Sidoh jumped as seemingly the entire gang in front of him started laughing. He wished that he could have sat somewhere else, but Ryuuk, Rem and Gelus had almost insisted on sitting there. "We can see almost everyone from here," Ryuuk had said, and Rem had agreed with him. Gelus hadn't said anything. He'd been staring at Misa for as long as he possibly could before he was forced to sit with his back turned to her.

Ryuuk and Rem were in the middle of discussing what they could do to entertain themselves during the trip, when an announcement sounded from the speaker.

"Hey kids,"someone said. "This is your bus driver speakin'. I just thought that I should tell you that we're almost there now, so if you'd like to see your surroundings you should look out the window right about now. That's right, this is where you'll be spending the next week."

A few disappointed groans sounded from around the bus. Outside was nothing but fields and a few hills. They hadn't been told where they were going, but they'd all hoped that it would be somewhere interesting. Apparently, they had thought wrong.

"There's a small city somewhere, but you'll be getting maps and stuff so you won't get lost."

"Yeah, wow, because those fields are some tricky bastards," someone muttered. The rest of the class laughed.

The bus stopped.

The students knew that they couldn't possibly be there, because they had been promised a nice hotel where they could sleep. And there was no building in sight.

Touta Matsuda wondered aloud why they were stopping, but was given no answer. Everyone else was starting to focus on the gas that was coming in from the small ventilators above them. Some of the students tried to open the windows, but it was useless. They had no choice but to breathe in the gas. The bus driver had already fallen asleep, and so had Mr. Yagami.

A few of them were desperately fighting the urge to just give in to the gas and let themselves sleep, but almost everyone was unconscious already.

L was still awake.

'I was right', he managed to think as he stared at Light who was asleep next to him. 'They're taking us to be in The Program… but… I…'

L fell asleep, the last one.

**.øØø.**

The last one to wake up was Halle Lidner. She blinked several times in confusion before she was able to see properly. She found herself on a chair, with a table in front of her. She looked around and saw that she was in a classroom. The other students were there as well... each on a chair, each with a table.

"Great!"

Everyone jumped. They hadn't noticed the man in the corner before he'd spoken. He wasn't particularly tall, had small eyes, and was overweight. Most of the teens immediately judged him as being a 'bad guy'. He was wearing a big smile as he walked to the blackboard at the front of the room.

"I'm Mr. Demegawa, and welcome to The Program!"

**Death Note Royale**

**A/N**: I know, a bit boring and quite short. The action will begin in chapter two. I just needed an introduction-chapter, and then I got bored with it and decided that it was time to get something going on.

I'm only going to ask once: Please review?


	2. Chapter 2

**Death Note Royale**

"I'm Mr. Demegawa, and welcome to The Program!"

The class just stared at him. Almost all of them were thinking the same thing: It can't be true. Some of them were thinking about how they could get out of it, if it was just a bad dream... but there were those who began look around them. They looked at their classmates, people they'd known since they were children, and started considering who would be a threat to them.

One of the students who were thinking this way was Light Yagami. He was already thinking about who could be dangerous with a good weapon in their hands— about who could be dangerous either way. Light knew that if they really were on The Program, there was no getting out. He'd watched every season since the show started, and it was either kill or be killed.

Misa Amane had also watched every single Program. At first, she'd watched it because she'd heard Light talk about it... but it had grown on her until she became very interested in the on-screen killings, and she found herself recognizing the collars that had been placed around their necks, which always happened. She briefly wondered how she could escape but couldn't think of anything when she became aware of the guards that stood by the door, as well as the bars at the small windows. Where were they, anyway?

Mr. Demegawa smiled, a somewhat sadistic facial expression which made it look like he didn't smile often, and grabbed a piece of chalk. He wrote his name on the blackboard while the students were still trying to understand what was going on.

"Now," he said when he was done, "I'll get right to it. The collars around your necks are very important. They're dangerous, you see— explosive." He erased his name and drew a strange circle. "This is where you are. In case you can't see and are retarded, it's an island. Right now, we're at a small school around here." He drew an 'x' on the left side of the circle.

"The island is split into certain parts. You'll understand when you get your maps. There will be danger zones, as some of you probably already know. If a place becomes a danger zone, I suggest that you get the fuck out of there. If not, the collars will explode. This is, as I said, an island. If you try swimming away, you won't get far because the collars will explode then as well."

The entire class seemed frozen in horror as Demegawa walked back and forth. He continued speaking, uninterrupted. A few reached up to their throats, not having realized that there were collars there, but it sounded as if everyone held their breath.

"They'll also explode if 24 hours pass without someone getting killed. That's right, kids, no peace and all that hippie-shit. You have three days. When they have passed, there should only be one kid left on the island. If there are more than one, all collars will explode. Sad thought, right? All of you dying when one could be bathed in eternal glory? See those bags over there?" He gestured towards a pile of bags that were lying in a corner of the room. "They contain food, water, maps, and a random weapon. Not even I know what's in there, so that'll be a surprise for all of us. The weapons are selected at random, so don't waste any time whining if you get something useless. Just get out there, kill someone and take their bag. Piece of cake."

He looked at each student in turn. His eyes rested on Light and Sayu for longer than probably intended. "You're the teacher's kids?" he asked. "The twins?"

"Yes, sir," answered Light, while Sayu only managed to nod. Demegawa sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You're going to like this least of all… you see, your teacher, Soichiro Yagami, didn't quite agree to this. Since we selected your class randomly, we had no idea that he had connections in the police force. He started threatening us with all kinds of shit. We found it necessary to eliminate him."

Various reactions were caused by this. Eyes widened, gasps were heard, and hands were brought up in front of mouths to prevent eventual screaming. Light and Sayu didn't believe their ears. They merely looked at each other, then at Demegawa, then back at each other.

Slowly, it started dawning on Sayu: They'd killed her father. She didn't want to know how, but they'd killed him. This was real. Life or death. Kill or be killed. She'd never see her father again. Even if he was still alive, she would probably die within the next three days… there was no way she could win. She couldn't even hurt a fly, how would she make herself murder all of her classmates?

Almost the same thing occurred to Light when his sister started to cry silently.

However, Light didn't feel hopeless. He became angry. And not with Demegawa, not with The Program, but with everyone else. Himself, Sayu, the others… everyone. Especially L. L, who had tried to convince him that they could still be chosen. L, who hadn't made sure that Light was listening. Light knew that it was his own fault, and that even if he'd listened, there would have been nothing to do about it.

But L had known.

L… and Near.

"Attention, please!"

They looked back to Demegawa who spoke as if nothing was wrong. "You've been out for a while. It's morning now. In exactly 72 hours from when the last of you leave the school, there will be one student left. Only one. There are 31 of you. And I can see that most of you are boys… I guess it's been ladies' choice in this class, huh?" He laughed before continuing. "All joking aside, that means that the winner will probably be a boy. So do your best, girls, to bring honor to your gender! You all have to play, and you'll play to win! Understood? Are there any questions?"

At the back of the class, Touta Matsuda slowly raised his hand. He wasn't even sure what he was going to ask about, he just wanted to make sure that it was really happening. He couldn't believe that it was actually real, that they had to kill eachother. As Demegawa looked at him, he tried desperately to think of something to ask about. Nothing came to mind. Demegawa reached into the pocket of his jacket…

_**BANG.**_

The hand Touta had raised was no more. Demegawa had shot him, shot his hand off. There was no longer a hand, but a bloody something with a thumb and an index finger.

Touta felt his breath quicken to the point of hyperventilation. It hurt. This was real... it was really happening...

His surroundings turned into a strange blur, and the screams from those surrounding him— the ones who'd seen his hand getting destroyed— suddenly sounded as if they were from another world. He could hear them, but it was as if he'd been separated from everyone else by some kind of wall. He couldn't see, all sounds were muffled… all sounds except for the obnoxiously loud ringing in his ears, which made it even worse. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt.

Touta Matsuda screamed. Held his almost non-existent hand in the other one, closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the blood, and screamed at the top of his lungs.

The sounds around him returned.

"Are there any other questions? No? Good. Let's get you out there! Let me see…" Demegawa took a piece of paper from the desk in front of him. "The first one is… Beyond Birthday."

Beyond got up, grinning widely. He stalked over to one of the guards who threw him a bag before he was allowed out of the door. Demegawa started humming, "Happy Birthday to yoouuu…" He laughed.

"Next up is Takuo Shibuimaru."

Takuo also walked to the door, but without the same confidence. He was usually all for the riot and violence, but he'd realized how real it suddenly had gotten, and it had stripped him of all his usual habits.

"Halle 'Lidner' Bullook."

**.øØø.**

Beyond opened the bag with almost shaking hands. He had been running ever since he got outside, wanting to find a desolate place where he could come up with a plan. The bag really did contain the things they'd been told. Strange… Beyond had been sure it had been a lie.

A combat knife. Perfect.

Beyond threw his head back, letting out a loud laugh.

This was going to be fun.

**.øØø.**

"Light Yagami."

Light wasn't even sure if he could stand up. He was shaking from anger and shock- the fact that his father had been killed hadn't even had time to sink into his mind yet.

But he managed. He got up, received a bag, and walked out of the door without letting anyone see how he was feeling. Perfect, as always.

He opened the bag on his way out of the building. A… stun gun? What good was that going to do him? How could it help him?! He needed something better. There were dangerous people out there… real psychos. People who deserved it… deserved to die.

He stopped.

No, they… did they really deserve it? He knew all of them… all of them. He'd known them since he was a child. He had good memories about almost all of them, and those he didn't… it was just because he hadn't talked much to them. Did they really deserve to die?

Could Light really win?

**.øØø.**

"Sayu Yagami."

She had a gun. A gun. That was what had been in the bag. And it was huge. Almost as long as her arm. Sayu was sitting against a tree, somewhat close to the school. She didn't know what to do. Didn't even know how to use the thing… Light's name had been called before hers, which… sucked. It just plain sucked. She'd really hoped that she could meet him somewhere, that he would help her survive. Keep the murderous ones away. Light probably knew how to handle a gun.

She sobbed quietly for a while, still not having a clue as to what she could do to survive the madness. There were those who would want to play… play to win. The 'gang' probably would. And Beyond Birthday would for sure. Maybe even Misa… she always did seem a little too enthusiastic about The Program, and now that they were in it…

They were in it. There was no return.

Sayu let herself cry.

Something was moving around behind her. She held the enormous gun closer to her as a warning, hoping that whoever it was, they weren't intent on playing.

"Ah, Sayu. Please don't shoot me…"

Wasn't that Taro Kagami's voice?

She turned around. It was, it was!

Sayu hugged him without hesitating. She sobbed again as she tried to speak.

"I-I'm so gl-glad it's you! I d-don't know what I'd d-do… if… if…"

"I'm glad it's you, too. I don't know what I'd have done if it had been… you know…"

She wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked up at him. Teru Mikami probably hadn't been let out yet. Those two were always together, like they had been glued to each other's sides or something. Even their names were alike. She asked anyway, because if Mikami was playing, then of course Kagami would have run away.

"Where's M-… Teru?"

"He's still at the school."

"You know there's a chance that he…"

"Might be playing? Yeah, I know. I know…" he let out a sigh.

And that was the last thing Taro Kagami ever said.

Sayu's eyes widened as she realized that someone had shot him in the head… there was a huge… huge, gaping hole, blood, blood, blood, fractures of his skull, parts of his brain…

Blood, blood, blood…

So much of it. All over her, on her clothes, in her hair, Kagami's blood was all over the place. That… that wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to be, was it?

Sayu wasn't even capable of screaming. She looked up, who could it be? Who would kill Kagami like that? Murder, murder, her mind screamed at her, and it made no sense, and there was blood, blood, _blood_, everywhere!

Shibuimaru. With a gun in his hand. It wasn't as big as Sayu's gun… how could he have killed Kagami with just that? It looked like… looked like a toy. Sayu almost laughed.

"I might've taken the time to have some fun with you, but I'm in a bit of a hurry right now. Bye bye, Yagami."

Blood, blood, blood. Even her own.

**.øØø.**

Mello only twitched when he heard the second gun-shot. That was… fast. Two down already? A part of his mind told him that less competition was only good, but he also wondered who had died. Someone he needed to… not die? If someone had killed Matt… no, Matt was smart, he wouldn't get killed just like that, right? Right.

He'd gotten a dagger. As if that would be useful. He needed a gun, because those were easier to handle. Way easier… even though he didn't know if he was going to play or not, he still needed one, just as self-defense. Yes, self-defense, that… was a good excuse for murder. No, no, no, no. He didn't have to kill anyone. Didn't have to… he really didn't.

But that didn't mean that he didn't want to…

**Death Note Royale**

**Students down: Taro Kagami, Sayu Yagami.**

**A/N**: Sadly, I have already picked my favorites. I won't let it get in the way, though. Hopefully… anyway, feel free to place your 'bets'. XD.

Again, thank you to XxDonMelloxX for betaing!


	3. Chapter 3

**Death Note Royale**

**Remaining Students: Light Yagami, Rod Ross, Halle Bullook, Raye Penber, Naomi 'massacre' Misora, Ryuuk, Beyond Birthday, Misa Amane, Mihael 'Mello' Keehl, Jack Neylon, Rem, José, Takuo Shibuimaru, Lind L. Tailor, Mary 'Wedy' Kenwood, Mail 'Matt' Jeevas, Andrew Miller, L Lawliet, After Acceptance, Touta Matsuda, Kiyomi Takada, Sidoh, Thierry 'Aiber' Morello, Roy, Gelus, Hirokazu Ukita, Teru Mikami, Skyer, Nate 'Near' River.**

Misa had her rope in her hands as she snuck up on Gelus. It was obviously him, recognizable even from behind; he was hunched over, sitting on the ground of the forest, his strange clothes with little stitches all over them covering him completely. Quite the camouflage, Misa thought, still getting closer and closer. She was going to strangle him from behind- he'd never know what hit him. Misa knew that Gelus was in love with her, would do anything for her, but she needed to get to Light, she and Light would escape together.

But maybe Gelus could help her… he wasn't a good fighter, that much was obvious from just looking at him, but if they were attacked, perhaps Gelus would somehow save her? Jumping in front of a bullet… like a personal bodyguard. Misa stopped, and stuffed the rope back in her bag where it had come from. Gelus seemed to hear the movement, turning around to face her.

"Misa!"

"Hi, Gelus…" she decided to play innocent; no need to tell him that she'd been about to kill him.

**.øØø.**

Poisoned darts. That was what they had given Near. Not that he was planning on ever using them. Near had always believed that everything could be solved with words- no one had to get hurt. Of course, there were the class' psychos, the ones who would find it amusing to see their friends writhe in pain. Maybe Near could find L… and they would convince the rest that there was no need to play. Yes, they would work something out. L wouldn't play. Maybe Light wouldn't play either; he could help them think up a plan to beat the system. Maybe even Mello. No, that wasn't realistic… Mello would play, and he'd play to win. But if Near had Matt on his side, then perhaps Mello would listen?

Plans were unfolding.

There was a sound like static, and Near looked up to see a small speaker on a nearby house. The static lasted for a few seconds, and then Demegawa's voice was heard.

"_Hello kids,"_ he said. _"All of you have left the school now, meaning that the 72 hours have started. Yup, the countdown's on. The school is now a danger-zone. I suggest that you open your maps, kiddies."_ Near did. _"I will make an announcement again at noon. Until then, A7, C1, and F6 are danger-zones. You get 10 minutes to get out of those areas."_

Near grabbed a pen from the bag and circled those areas.

"_Also, you might want to know this: two of you have already been killed. Congratulations to everyone except Taro Kagami and Sayu Yagami for not dying yet. I'll be back with more announcements for you at noon, little ones."_

There was static for a few more seconds. Then silence.

Taro Kagami and Sayu Yagami. The quiet boy at Mikami's side and Light's twin sister.

Both were dead.

He briefly wondered who had killed them, but decided to refrain from wasting energy on thinking about it, since he probably wouldn't know.

Panic struck at that moment.

What if he would die here? Alone, killed by someone he'd trusted… and sick, sick, sick people would watch it on television, relieved that they didn't bet on him. That was all they were. Cheap entertainment, like a horse-race, who would win? Who would be the last one to die?

In reality, Near realized, he couldn't trust anyone.

His rational mind told him that there were plenty of people he could trust. People like L, Halle, After, Matt, Light…

But they could all be playing, for all he knew. There was no telling who'd go insane, break under the pressure of the game, resort to violence to get away alive.

Near had watched an episode of The Program once. It was horrible. Friends betrayed each other, everyone turned into enemies.

He couldn't trust anyone.

No one.

_But_, he wondered as he twirled a dart between his fingers, _can they trust Near?_

**.øØø.**

Light had seen her.

Long before Demegawa had made the announcement.

_Sayu…_

It was surreal, like a painting he'd once seen, all the shapes around him were melting together, colours blending, _he couldn't see._

Someone had killed his sister. His father and his sister were dead. Both of them. And to think, mere hours ago he had been on the bus, not knowing what was about to happen. Maybe it was all a dream? Yes, yes, it was, and in a moment he would wake up and tell someone about the strangest dream he'd ever had. Matt would be sitting in the seat behind him, joking about Freudian dreams and about how the dream meant that he should get laid or something.

And Light, L, and Near would all roll their eyes, but someone who'd heard it would laugh...

They would all be happy. No Program. No game. No _Kill Or Be Killed_. Sayu would be alive, chattering with the other noisy girls, gossiping about some unimportant thing. His father would be right in front of him, and he'd sigh with relief because _dreams are only dreams._

But he'd _seen_ her.

Light had never thought, in his wildest imagination, that he would see his sister lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. He... hadn't been able to do anything, hadn't been able to save her, hadn't... couldn't...

It wasn't only her blood, not only her body, but the boy didn't matter. Light had vaguely recognized him as Taro Kagami, but he had been too... too... _something_ to care. Too what? Scared? Filled with grief? Alone, paranoid, shocked—

_Killer, killer, killer_...

No. Light hadn't killed anyone—

_Yet._

-and he wasn't going to. Was not, would not, could not, had to, wanted to...

No! There was something wrong with him... very wrong indeed. He was losing his mind, yes, but he could stop himself before he did something that he would regret later. If he really wanted to, he could end it all. But if he really had a shot at winning... the most dangerous of his classmates would probably end up killing each other or themselves in fits of insanity. If so, Light could easily take down the rest. So many of them had done something to make sure that they deserved to die. Juvenile idiots, gang activity, things like that. They didn't appreciate the lives they had, so there was no reason for them to survive. But what about those who had done nothing wrong? Light decided to not worry about that and seek out the ones who deserved every bit of it.

After stumbling almost blindly around for what felt like hours but was probably mere minutes, Light spotted a white figure sitting on the ground, leaned up against a house in the now empty village.

Near.

He called out for the small boy, who lifted his head as if to acknowledge Light's presence. Light walked all the way up to him, surprised to see a small dart of some kind clutched in Near's small hand.

"Light. It's good to see you."

"Really? In these circumstances, I'd beg to differ."

Near let out a humourless chuckle. "Yes, of course. But of all the people to show up now, it could have been worse."

"Agreed."

"I know you, Light..."

"Yes? So?"

"You're not playing, are you?"

As it turned out, Near didn't know Light as well as he thought. Light, of course, lied. "No."

"We can beat this, Light. Your sister... she didn't have to die." Light wanted to kill Near at that very moment. How could he talk about Sayu like that?! Dear, sweet Sayu, soaked in her own blood... _of course_ she didn't have to die. But it was too late. Light had lost her, lost her and their father, and now they were gone forever. And that little brat had the guts to talk about it so casually?!

Light decided that Near was going to die.

Ah, but then reality struck: Light only had a stun-gun. Nothing more than something associated with ladies and wannabe rapists. Near didn't exactly look like he was going to jump Light, but if Light could somehow get his hands on those darts... He told himself to be patient, win the trust, then... Perfect.

"Light?"

"Huh? Oh, right. I'm sorry, I suppose--"

"It's perfectly understandable. It's harder for you than the rest of us."

"... Yeah, it... it is. ... That a dart?"

"Yes, I've been 'lucky' enough to get poisoned darts."

"Huh."

Silence.

And then a sudden twist to what Light had thought to be the perfect plan. He would gain Near's trust, then kill him when he least expected it.

But Light hadn't counted on Mello appearing from the nearby forest. And Light knew from experience that Mello was a psychotic bastard when he set his mind to something.

_(__As he turned around that corner on his way home, he saw shadows in the alley. Someone was pressed up against a wall... and wasn't that Mello with a gun pressed to that someone's head? Low voices spoke hurriedly, then there was a loud bang, and the person at the wall fell lifeless to the ground. The other shadows in the alley laughed, laughed, laughed, and Light turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could.)_

There was no doubt in Light's mind that Mello would be playing, and no doubt that he had surely done something to deserve being killed as well.

He could screw up everything. Light acted on impulse.

Before Near even seemed to realize what was going on, Light had taken the dart from his hand, pulled him up and spun him around. Near now had his back to Light who had twisted Near's right arm painfully behind his back. He held the dart to Near's throat and made an attempt to come up with an escape plan; with only darts and a stun-gun, it would be almost impossible to take someone down.

"If you try anything funny, Near gets it," he said, a little surprised that his voice was steady when he was so... so... _what_?

Mello was closer now, and Light could see his eyes widen. "Light," he said, "what the fuck?"

"Don't come any closer, you freak!"

"Light, let him go..."

"Yes, Light, let me go," Near managed to say in that monotone voice of his.

"No! Mello, you're staying away!"

"Light, I'm not going to do anything... just let him go and we'll figure something out."

"Why do you even care? Aren't you supposed to be rivals or something?" Yes, that was right. The two of them were always competing. No matter what. Light never cared much for either of them so he wasn't really sure why or how, and he hoped that Mello wouldn't just say 'kill him', because then Light would have no 'shield'.

Mello held up his hands. "Look," he said. "No weapon. Now, how 'bout you release Near and we talk about this like the human beings that we are?"

"Mel? And Light?"

A fourth voice. From behind Light.

_No, it's not supposed to go this way; this was not what I wanted!_

Not only was it a voice, it was the voice of Rod Ross.

Light had to get away. He had to get out somehow, get away from those violent bastards until he had something better than a stun-gun, a poisoned dart and a human shield. He turned around, facing Rod, who was holding the handle of a knife in his right hand. His hand twitched slightly and the blade slid out smoothly. Light backed away slowly, trying to keep an eye on Rod, another eye on Mello and a third and nonexistent eye on Near. He passed Mello and kept backing.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Mello asked and moved to follow him, but then Rod walked over to Mello and put an arm around his throat as if he was trying to strangle him and took both of his wrists in the hand that was still holding the knife. Light didn't have time to think about it and didn't. He just walked as quickly as he could, getting far into the forest before he decided that he was safe. He didn't really need Near anymore.

The needle of the dart sank into the small boy's neck, and Light let go of him. Near fell to the ground, ripped the dart out and gasped for air. Then he proceeded to vomit. Light was disgusted. At least Near could die with some grace. The vomit contained blood, and Light left before he threw up as well.

Really, it was sickening.

**.øØø.**

"NEAR! Fuck, Rod, let go of me, damn it!"

Rod just tightened his grip and Mello could barely breathe. "What're you doing," he managed to choke out.

"Didn't you say it yourself?" Rod began. "That you'd kill all of us if it got you out? Well, I'm getting out and you're in my way, Mel."

Mello would have protested, but he couldn't breathe at all now.

"But," Rod continued, "that doesn't mean that I can't have a little fun first, right?"

"Wha-...?"

"Mello, I think I'll have to rape you."

**Death Note Royale**

**Students down: Taro Kagami, Sayu Yagami, Nate 'Near' River**

**A/N: **Thanks to XxDonMelloxX for betaing. I hope y'all enjoyed this :3


	4. Chapter 4

**Death Note Royale**

**Remaining Students:**** Light Yagami, Rod Ross, Halle Bullook, Raye Penber, Naomi 'massacre' Misora, Ryuuk, Beyond Birthday, Misa Amane, Mihael 'Mello' Keehl, Jack Neylon, Rem, José, Takuo Shibuimaru, Lind L. Tailor, Mary 'Wedy' Kenwood, Mail 'Matt' Jeevas, Andrew Miller, L Lawliet, After Acceptance, Touta Matsuda, Kiyomi Takada, Sidoh, Thierry 'Aiber' Morello, Roy,Gelus, Hirokazu Ukita, Teru Mikami, Skyer.**

"Rem?"

"Hm?"

"... I'm hungry. You got an apple or somethin'?"

Rem groaned in annoyance. Only 4 hours or so had passed since the last one had left the school, and Ryuuk was already going into 'withdrawal'. She looked at the tall boy next to her, and yes... he was already hunched over more than he normally was, and his big (almost fish-like) eyes were darting in every possible direction in search of his favourite fruit.

"If you're hungry then eat something," said Rem. "You can't really afford to be choosy now."

Ryuuk sighed and made no further comments on the subject other than some incoherent mumbling about being bored.

Sidoh, who had been walking in silence most of the time listening to Rem and Ryuuk's constant bickering, decided to share his fear.

"Guys," he started. He couldn't really think of something to say after that and wished that he could. He tried anyway. "What if we run into someone?" _That wasn't bad_, he thought, giving himself a mental shoulder-clap for his fast thinking.

"Then we see what happens and enjoy the ride. You worry too much," said Ryuuk.

"But what if we get killed before we find Gelus?"

"... Then there ain't much to do about it, is there?"

Sidoh shivered. Ryuuk wasn't a very comforting person to talk to.

They'd quickly agreed on finding Gelus; strength in numbers and all that. However, Sidoh was usually a nervous person and the thought that he could be killed any second didn't make this any better.

"I'm just saying that--"

He didn't make it any further. Someone was shooting at them from a nearby bush, almost as if to prove his point. They immediately threw themselves at the ground and weren't hit. Luckily, there was a short break - probably the attacker thinking that he/she had managed to killed them - and Ryuuk managed to grab Rem's 'small' rifle and shoot back at where the almost-killer seemingly was.

There was a strange kind of gurgling sound, then silence.

_Oh, please, _Sidoh thought,_ Please, I don't want to die!_

Rem was the first one to move, and only when she was sure that nothing was going to happen. About a minute after the shooting there was still no sound, so she got up and moved toward the bush warily, moving slowly and as soundlessly as possible. She looked behind it and sighed.

"Shibuimaru," she said, apparently relieved that it wasn't someone they knew or cared about.

Sidoh got up as well. "Is he...?"

"Dead? Yeah."

"Where'd I get 'im?" Ryuuk asked, sounding a little too enthusiastic about it.

Rem looked down again. "In the stomach," she said and made a face. "He's... all over the place. A powerful gun I got there."

"... Can I keep it?" There was a very disturbing grin on Ryuuk's face as he asked about this.

"Hey, we're in this together, right?" said Sidoh. "I mean, you know, I think that maybe--"

Ryuuk looked at him. "Don't ya trust me?"

**.øØø.**

It was horrible. All of his dignity was taken away with one simple sentence: "I think I'll have to rape you." Ah no, not even that, but it had even begun with his name. Making sure it really _was _him, then. Didn't make a lot of sense, but then again... what really did?

He couldn't fight back. Rod had a knife in the hand that was holding Mello's wrists. One wrong move and it would all be over. He tried moving his legs a little... just a little, to see if he could perhaps get to kick Rod. But he was discovered, and the knife came closer to his throat. He mentally swore at himself for not running like Hell when Rod had shown up, but... he hadn't expected it. They were like a family, all of them... the whole gang, like a freaking mafia or something. Rod was the leader, the one who told the others what to do. Mello was the... something else. He told Rod what to tell the others. They had been fine with the routine, had made fun of it, and generally had a wonderful time together. Hell, even killing people seemed like a child's game when they were so strong and so many. Power was everything, Mello knew that.

And now... he had none.

"Take off them pretty lil' pants," Rod ordered, loosening his grip on Mello's throat. Not much, but enough for him to breathe and form actual words.

"... And if I refuse?"

"Then I'll slit your fucking throat."

"Aren't you going to do that anyway?" He'd rather just die now and keep his dignity than get raped and _then _killed.

"There might be a chance that I let you survive if you take your pants off now."

"Rod, this isn't funny. Cut it out already." There was a slight hope in the back of his mind that Rod was perhaps kidding.

"I'm not joking. Not even close to it."

Well, fuck.

"Rod, please," Oh no, he was pleading. So much for dignity. "Think about what you're doing. You have a better chance of winning if you let me survive. Come on... I mean, we can team up. We can find a way out of here!"

"And have you killin' me when you think I'm in your way? Mells, I know you. Do you think I'm stupid?"

_Yes_. "No. Rod, you don't want this. Neither do I. So just don't, okay?"

"Cut the crap, Mello. You know you want this."

"What the fuck do you mean?" There had to be some way to escape, _had _to be. He just needed some time to figure out how.

"I know all about your little faggot crush on Mattie-boy. Don't act all straight and proud, you fairy. Hell, it's obvious from just lookin' at you."

"Wh-... What the Hell?!"

"Just do as I say and it'll hurt a lot less."

Did he really have any choice?

**.øØø.**

Matt was wandering restlessly around, not really knowing what to do with himself. The game was on, kill or be killed and all that. Some had already died - two, perhaps more already. He hadn't ever watched The Program. Senseless killing of poor children didn't hold his interest, but it didn't sadden him either. To be honest, he didn't care much. It wasn't his problem and he'd much rather focus on his own current problems than watch kids kill each other.

Now, however, his current problem was that he hadn't watched it.

It would have helped a lot. Sure, he knew how to handle the Heckler & Koch… something… large machine-gun-thingie that he'd gotten, but he had no idea how people usually reacted to this situation. Who would be the types to freak out and go on a psychotic killing spree? Beyond Birthday, but that wasn't new. Maybe Mikami, now that Kagami had died.

Too many horror books told him that it was always the quiet ones, but… well, Matt _was _one of the quiet ones. And he had no intentions of suddenly murdering someone unless they were trying to murder him first. And even then, he knew himself well enough to guess that he'd probably freak out and run away screaming like a little girl.

It's always the quiet ones. And if Matt wasn't careful, someone would get him. Heh, curiosity killed the Matt. Yeah, totally the time for lame jokes. He rolled his eyes at his rotten timing and chalked it up to nicotine-withdrawal.

Okay, he needed to map out in his head who could be potential psychos. Beyond. Perhaps Mikami. After, too, since he had a thing with breaking under pressure. Maybe Ryuuk. Any of the girls? Misora Massacre, most likely. And all of Rod's gang. Not that Matt thought they were girls, except for that whole 'group' thing they had going. And Mello did really look like a girl. He probably was. Now that Matt thought about it, there was a good chance of Mello going axe crazy. _Oh no_, he thought, _don't give Mello an axe… _Oh well. They _were _best friends, so the damage would probably be minimal.

Whatever.

For some reason, the thought about the quiet ones always being the psychos gave Matt a very disturbing mental image of Near with a chainsaw. Near wouldn't last. Weakly Near who couldn't even kick a ball without breaking a leg. Near, who could probably cut himself on cotton candy? No way he'd last for more than ten minutes. The thought had Matt a little upset, but there was nothing he could do about it but hope that the poor thing didn't suffer too much.

Lost in his own thoughts, Matt turned around a corner to find a very horrifying scene before him.

Rod and Mello.

Post-rape.

He acted on instinct.

Lucky for him, he could still remember what Watari had said about guns like this one. Yeah, this thing goes there, you press that thing, and then pull the trigger.

Bang, dead.

**.øØø.**

_It hurts, it hurts, it hurts..._ was all that could pass through his thoughts.

It had felt like forever... again and again and again, harder and faster, almost tearing him apart. And now he was going to die.

Rod's voice almost sounded like it came from another world... "Now, because I'm such a gentleman, I'll let you put your lil' pants back on while I decide what to do with you."

_What is there to do?_ Mello thought while managing to get dressed. The last little shred of dignity he had was that he could at least die clothed.

Ew, he was all dirty from being pressed against the ground like that. He didn't even have the energy to sit up. Just kept lying there after he'd gotten his clothes back on, waiting for the knife to press against his throat and end it all. It was going to hurt, but it hurt already. He'd heard somewhere that the human body could only focus on one pain at the time, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad?

But there was no blissful death.

Nothing at all, actually, except for that bang.

That could've been anything, really. His hearing was a bit strange and everything still sounded like it came from another world.

However, he opened his eyes, almost daring to hope that he would survive after all... that he would get out, find Matt, then get out with him. None of the others mattered.

Nothing had ever looked as beautiful as Rod's dead body, he decided, discovering that the freak was, in fact, dead. His entire head seemed to have exploded. It had been powerful.

Who, who?

Would they kill Mello as well?

"... Matt."

Screw Rod's dead body, _Matt _walking over to him with that gun in his hand, so obviously his saviour, was definitely the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Mello? Fuck, I'm so sorry, are you okay? I mean, I can see that you're not, but did he cut you somewhere? Are you... c-can you walk? We have to get the fuck out of here, okay? Can you hear me? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Mello smiled. "Yeah... thank you."

"Do you want me to carry you? Because I probably can, you know, but it'd slow us down a lot."

"No... no, I'll manage. Thank you."

"Fuck, stop fucking thanking me! I should've gotten here sooner, I could have... I don't know! I could have done more."

Matt leaned in over him, seemingly wanting to pick him up, but Mello decided that he would be able to walk for himself and instead took advantage of the situation and gave his friend a tight hug.

"Thank you," he said.

"... Stop saying that."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Matt laughed awkwardly. "Okaaay, you can let go now."

"Sorry." He let go and sat up. Ow.

Matt smiled. "C'mon. Let's get out before some weirdo comes looking for him or something."

"Yeah."

They managed to get away, fleeing as quickly as possible into the nearby woods. Something white was lying on the ground in a small opening between the trees.

Near.

"Wh-... who did this?" asked Matt. He had all rights to be shocked; poor Near was lying in a small pool of vomit, some of it with blood in it. There was a dart next to him. The one Light had held to his throat.

"Light did it."

"H-how do you know that?!"

Mello explained, but that did nothing to calm Matt down, it seemed.

"Well... shit! I mean, I'd totally thought that Light would manage to keep calm during this and then he's one of the first to crack. Fuck, we have no idea who's playing, do we?"

"None whatsoever."

"... Fuck!"

"Indeed."

"No, I mean, fuck! As in fuck, we forgot Rod's knife."

"...Fuck. I think Near's bag was still there. Maybe Light didn't take all the darts."

"I'm gonna go get them before someone else can, okay?"

"You? What do you mean? I'm coming with you!"

Matt shook his head at that. "No you're not. I can see that it hurts when you walk. If you're not careful, you'll collapse on me."

"What, so you're just going to leave me here or what?"

"You know how this thing works?" He handed Mello the submachine gun.

"Yeah. But that leaves you pretty much helpless. You can't rely on nonexistent ninja-skills to get by here, you know."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because something's going to happen to me in the three minutes it'll take me to go back and get the knife."

Mello didn't like it. But he agreed anyway, because he didn't have any better suggestions. He watched Matt run back and leaned against a tree, loading the gun (just in case) and looked at Near's body as if he'd suddenly start moving again.

He waited.

Then he waited some more.

And more.

When what felt like 15 minutes had passed, he got worried. He decided that collapsing didn't really matter and went to look for Matt.

It took him a little while to find his way back to the small row-houses, but when he did...

"Oh my God... Matt? Matt! MATT!?"

Matt was lying on the ground.

Right next to Rod.

His throat was... cut open. His entire head was almost torn off.

It had been violent.

"Matt!" Unable to feel anything, unable to think, he ran over even though he could do absolutely nothing.

There was... there was something.

Something. A letter. Written on Matt. Carved into his cheek.

(_Oh God, no_)

A letter.

B.

And a number.

2.

B2.

Beyond.

It couldn't... wouldn't... blood all over the place...

Rod's brains, too...

(_No, no, no, no, no, no_)

Mello felt the tears in his eyes, but refused to let himself cry. This was too important. No time to waste. He had to get B. Had to get revenge.

No matter what, he would kill Beyond Birthday. No fucking matter what. The only reason he'd hoped to survive The Program was Matt... to get out with him. None of the others mattered. Hell, even L could drop dead for all he cared. And Beyond had taken it away. He'd stolen the hope and slit its throat. That was how Mello should have died. Wonderful, wonderful irony.

The knife had gone. Near's bag as well. Go figure. Fuck it, Mello had a large and dangerous gun.

He'd kill Beyond Birthday. And he'd kill anyone who got in his way.

**Death Note Royale.**

**Students down: Taro Kagami, Sayu Yagami, Nate 'Near' River, Takuo Shibuimaru, Rod Ross, Mail 'Matt' Jeevas.**

**A/N:** Yes, Beyond and Mello are the 'Kiriyama'-fuckups of this fanfic! So sue me. Okay, no, please don't.

A big thank you to my wonderful beta XxDonMelloxX, without whom this wouldn't be as good as it is.

If you have any questions about the weapons, please don't hesitate to ask; I spent days researching weapons before I found 31 good ones and 'handed them out' at random, but I'm too lazy to list it all here. I merely thought that it would be unrealistic if every single character could recognize every single weapon and make out the guns and such, especially under such stress. So, yeah, if you have a question, ask away.

Next chapter will be containing some more peaceful characters. (Such as Matsuda and L).


End file.
